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George Bush strongly urges Turkey against
Iraqi Kurdistan incursion
17.10.2007 |
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October
17, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct 17, -- President George W.
Bush Wednesday strongly urged Turkey not to carry
out cross-border strikes on Turkish Kurdish PKK
separatists in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq',
even as the Turkish parliament voted to
authorize such
an incursion.
"We are making it very clear to Turkey that we don't
think it is in their interests to send troops into
Iraq," Bush said at a White House press conference.
"There's a better way to deal with the issue than
having the Turks send massive troops into the
country -- massive additional troops into the
country," the president said.
"We are actively involved with the Turks and the
Iraqis, through a tripartite arrangement, and we'll
continue ... dialoguing with the Turks," Bush said.
Bush also noted that Iraqi government had told
Turkey it was determined to act against the
separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
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US President George W. Bush Wednesday strongly urged
Turkey not to carry out cross-border strikes on
Turkish Kurdish PKK separatists in Kurdistan region
'northern Iraq', even as the Turkish parliament
voted to authorize such an incursion. |
But even as the president spoke in the White House,
Turkey's parliament voted to allow the government to
send troops into Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' to crack
down on the Kurdish PKK rebels there, the parliament
speaker said.
The motion said the timing and the scope of an
operation as well the number of soldiers to be sent
will be determined by the government and said the
operation would solely target the PKK, which Ankara
accuses of using the region as a jumping board for
attacks across the border on Turkey.
In an attempt to defuse US tensions with Turkey on
another key issue, Bush urged the Democratic-led
Congress to drop a resolution calling the World War
I massacre of Armenians in Turkey "genocide."
"One thing Congress should not be doing is sorting
out the historical record of the Ottoman Empire,"
Bush said, branding the measure "counterproductive."
"Congress has more important work to do than
antagonizing a democratic ally in the Muslim world,
especially one that's providing vital support for
our military every day," in places like Iraq, he
said.
AFP
** Kurds are not recognized as an official minority
in Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in Big
Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media. The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet has led
to judicial persecution in 2000 and 2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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